Oxford

Oxford is a British university city located in the county of Oxfordshire, England, and is the seat of the University of Oxford, the oldest university in the English-speaking world. It corresponds to the location of the Carfax Tower, which is considered the center of the city.

It is known as "the city of dreaming spires", an expression coined by Matthew Arnold to describe the harmony in the architecture of university buildings. The occasionally tense relationship between 'the people and the academy', which in 1355 led to a revolt with several dead university students, has always been a matter of much interest. Unlike its great rival, Cambridge, Oxford is an industrial city, associated mainly with the automobile industry in the suburb of Cowley.

History

Medieval

Oxford was first settled in Saxon times and was initially known as "Oxenaforda", meaning "Ford of the Oxen" ("Oxen Ford") (according to the English Place Nomenclature Society, which is based on a reference in Florence of Worcester's Chronicon ex chronicis); fords were more common than bridges at this time. It began with the establishment of a crossing in the river for oxen around AD 900. In the X century, Oxford became an important military frontier between the kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex and at various times was attacked by danos.

Oxford was heavily damaged during the Norman invasion of 1066. After the conquest, the city was assigned to a governor, Robert D'Oyly, who ordered the construction of Oxford Castle to reassert Norman authority over the area. It is believed that the castle has never been used for military purposes and its remains have survived to this day. D'Oyly established a monastic community in the castle consisting of a chapel and rooms for the monks (St George in the Castle). The community never grew very large, but it earned its place in history as one of the oldest places of formal education in Britain. It was there that in 1139 Godfrey of Monmouth wrote his Historia Regum Britanniae, a compilation of the matter of Britain.

Transportation

Road

Oxford is situated about 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of London; the cities are linked by the M40 motorway, which also links to Birmingham to the north.

Railway

By train you can go to London, (Paddington or Marylebone), Bournemouth, Worcester (via the Cotswold Line) and Bicester. The city also has regular train services north to Birmingham, Coventry, Manchester, Scotland, among other places. The rail service connecting Oxford and Cambridge, known as the Varsity Line ("University Line"), ceased operation in 1968.

Other transportation

The Oxford Canal connects to the River Thames at Oxford.

Oxford Airport at Kidlington provides business and general air services

Higher education

There are two universities in the city of Oxford: the University of Oxford and Brookes University.

In addition, the French business school EM Normandie has had a campus in the center of Oxford since 2014. It shares its buildings with the City of Oxford College (Activate Learning). Each year it receives approximately 200 students from France or students from exchange of the universities associated with EM Normandie.

Media

In addition to the national BBC radio stations, there are several stations in and around Oxford, including BBC Oxford, Heart Thames Valley, Glide FM, Jack FM and Oxford Student Radio. There is also a local television station, Six TV, and The Oxford Channel, which closed in April 2009.

The most widely read local newspapers are The Oxford Times (weekly, compact format), its sister newspaper The Oxford Mail (daily, tabloid) and The Oxford Star (free newspaper with delivery option, tabloid) and the Oxford Journal (free weekly newspaper, tabloid). Also, many advertising agencies are based in Oxford. The Daily Information is an advertising and events newspaper that has been published since 1964 and now also offers a related website. Nightshift is a free monthly magazine covering the Oxford music scene since 1991.

Literature in Oxford

Bike in Oxford, alternative transport.

Some of the famous authors from Oxford are:

• Vera Brittain, who studied at Somerville College.
• A.S. Byatt, who studied at Somerville College.
• Lewis Carroll (whose real name was Charles Dodgson), professor at Christ Church College.
• Susan Cooper, who studied at Somerville College.
• Colin Dexter, who wrote and based his mystery novels of Inspector Morse at Oxford.
• Michael Innes (J. I. M. Stewart), Christ Church College.
• C. S. Lewis, who belonged to the Magdalen College.
• Oscar Wilde, who studied at the Magdalen College.
• Iris Murdoch, who studied at Somerville College.
• Philip Pullman who studied at Exeter College.
• Dorothy L. Sayers, who studied at Somerville College
• J. R. R. Tolkien, who studied at Exeter College and was a professor of English language and literature at Merton College.

Oxford has been used by many writers as the setting for their novels. Some of them are:

• Dark matter (1996) by Philip Pullman (where the University of Oxford is called "Jordan College", and it is the birthplace of the main characters).
• Jude the Obscure (1895) by Thomas Hardy (in which Oxford is named "Christminster").
• Zuleika Dobson (1911) by Max Beerbohm (Merton).
• Gaudy Night (1935) by Dorothy L. Sayers (Somerville).
• Brideshead Revisited (1945) by Evelyn Waugh (Hertford).
• All souls (1989) by Javier Marías (All Souls College, Oxford).
• Impenceptible crimes (2003) by Guillermo Martínez (this novel received the Planeta de Argentina Award).

Twinnings

The city of Oxford has had, throughout its history, various twinning relationships with cities on various continents:

• Bonn, Germany
• Grenoble (France)
• Leiden (Netherlands)
• León (Nicaragua)
• Perm (Russia)
• Umeå (Sweden)
• Oxford (Míchigan, United States)
• Medellin (Colombia)